CONGESTION around Oxford is already causing misery and wasting billions in lost working time. Yet the number of cars licensed is set to double over the next decade or so.

So far, the only significant investment in the only alternative – rail – has been by the German state.

‘Traffic’ is not the only problem. All those vehicles have to be kept somewhere: for the most part, on the street.

There are two choices. We can continue with the “beach towel” method, where we try to grab space by keeping our car there, whether we need to or not. Neighbours, once friends, become enemies. The innocent are forced to play the same game. The inconsiderate, selfish and aggressive are rewarded the most. Pavements will be ever more blocked.

I well recall my mother, after two hip replacements, forced to regularly cross and recross a busy road and I have also seen mothers with toddler and pram forced to walk in the road. Verges and greens will become mere muddy car parks. In London, the law protecting pavements and verges is clear and enforceable, though the intent of national law, dating back to 1834, is equally clear. The county council could act here, as Bucks has done, with bylaw and bollard.

The alternative to war with our neighbours is a residents’ parking scheme, where everyone can apply to use the street on an equal footing. Bristol City Council has had the courage to introduce one, in the face of ferocious, even violent, resistance. It is high time our local authorities found the same mettle.

The longer this is left, the worse it will become and the more difficult it will be to remedy.

Dr IAN EAST
Kidlington Road, Islip